Ax or similar tool.



W. YANERT.

AX OR SIMILAR TOOL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPI. 22, I9Is.

I I* IIII" ,III

W/ TNESSES ff/m41.

Patented Mar. 20, 1917l 5 I I 1 Il?! IIIII llll "III" BIM A TTOHNEYS WILLIAM YANERT, OFPURGATORY, TERRITORY 0F ALASKA.

AX OR SIMILAR TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar, 20, 1917.

Application led September 22, 1916. Serial No. 121,660.

T0 all whom t may concern."

Be it known that I, WILLIAM YANERT, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Purgatory, in the Yukon Flats, Yukon river, Territory of Alaska, have invented a new4 and Improved'Ax or Similar Tool, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates to tools having handles adapted to be secured thereto.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a novelv construction of ax or the like with improved facilities for securing the handle thereto providing for absolute safety in the connection and for the removability or interchange of such handles. While I show in the drawings an ax and may hereinafter refer to the tool as an ax, I wish it to be distinctly7 understood that by such term I mean to cover any analogous or similar tool, such as a hammer, hatchet, maul or the like. One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a means for connecting a handle to an aX in such a manner that the ax cannot possibly fly from the handle and yet the handle may be removed or interchanged with facility when desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide tools and handles with a standardized means for connecting the severalparts together.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose vofillustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of an aX and the connecting means for the handle therefor;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with parts in lon- `gitudinal section, substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. e;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4: is a perspective view of the ax alone;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the bridle constituting the main portion of the attachment means;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the end of the handle;

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the key; and Y Fig. 8 is a similar view of the keeper or sleeve.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, I show an ax 10 having a poll or head 11. Between the head 11 and the blade of the ax is a neck 12 substantially wedge shaped in cross section, the principal taper being to-ward the handle, but with the outer Y and with the upper and lower edges of the head or the handle fitting squarely against the shoulders formed at the upper and lower ends of the neck. The eXtreme ends of the handle blades 14 are beveled off somewhat on the outer edges or corners, as indicated at 15, approximating somewhat in form the beveled portion of the neck at 12. The V-shaped space between the blades 111 ltapers down approximately to a sharp edge and is 'extended upwardly or inwardly somewhat beyond the inner edge of the aX neck.l The sides of the handle head 14 are preferably formed with vertical grooves or notches 16. The handle with its head formed las thus described is adapted to be slipped and fitted entirely snugly to the aX with the blades le lying on opposite sides of the neck and with the beveled ends 15 thereof lying on opposite sides of the beveled portions 12 of the neck. f Y

Referring now to Fig. 5, it will be understood that I provide a bridle 17 as the principal element of the attachment means, the same being formed preferably of a single piece of spring metal approximately U- shaped in a longitudinal horizontal plane. The bridle may be described as comprising a head 18 and two side blades 19. The head and the portions of the blades connected thereto are of heavier metal than the main portions of the blades. The thickened portions or ends of the blades adjacent the head 18 bear against the beveled ends 15 of the handle blades 14, and when the bridle is moved into place and tapped with a mallet or the like upon the head 18, the end portions 15 of the handle blades have a tendency to be forced inwardly to hug the beveled portions of the aX neck. As shown in Fig. 5, the blades tend to spring apart at their free ends when unconfined. Said free ends are provided with inwardly turned lips adapted to project into the grooves 16 of the handle head when the fastening is completed.

The keeper 21 is of rectangular form in cross section and is adapted to embrace the free end portions of the bridle blades 19 for the purpose of holding the same in snug contact with the sides of the handle head and causing the lips 20 to engage in the grooves aforesaid. The keeper is provided with side wings 22 which bear along the outer faces of the bridle blades 19.

The final member of the connecting devices consists of a key 23 adapted to be driven or otherwise forced downwardly into the slot formed between the handle head blades 1.4. This key comprises two legs 24 lying mainly in the same plane, but adapted to spring from each other so as to cause a notch 25 to receive the outer edge of the upper portion of the keeper, as shown best in Fig. 2. The resilient action of the key holds the key in place for engagement in the notch 25. The key bearing at one edge against the keeper and the other edge against the aX, holds the keeper in place and therefore the connecting devices are all locked positively together.

To detach the handle, the operator has but to draw or drive the key upwardly which may be easily done with a simple tool. rlhen the keeper is slipped toward the ax as far as it will go setting the lips 20 free from the grooves 16 due to the spring action of the bridle blades. rlhe handle may then be easily withdrawn from its place and another inserted if desired.

I claim:

1. The herein described ax having a blade, a head and a neck connecting the blade and head, a handle for the ax, said handle being bifurcated tc embrace the neck of the ax, and means including a U-shaped bridle embracing the ax and bifurcated portion of the handle to secure the handle in place.

2. The combination of an ax having a neck portion wedge-shaped in cross section, a. handle havingfa bifurcated head embracing the neck aforesaid, a U-shaped bridle embracing the neck aforesaid and bifurcated portion of the handle, and means surrounding the handle securing the bridle in place and preventing the withdrawal of the handle.

3. rIhe combination ofa tool having a reduced neck portion, a handle having a bifurcated connecting porton straddling the neck portion aforesaid, the handle having oppositely disposed side grooves, a connecting member embracing the neck and those portions of the handle adjacent thereto, said connecting member having a pair of inwardly directed lips extending into said grooves, and means surrounding the handle and lip portions of the connecting member to hold said lips in engaging position.

4. The combination of a tool having a neck, a handle having a head embracing the neck, a connecting bridle embracing the neck and the handle portions adjacent thereto, a keeper surrounding the ends of the bridle and slidable longitudinally thereof and serving to cause the ends of the bridle to engage into the sides of the handle, and means to lock the keeper in binding position.

5. The combination of a tool having a reduced neck portion, a bridle surrounding the neck portion and having a pair of free spring ends, a keeper surrounding said ends and slidable longitudinally thereof toward the tool, a handle having a split head projectable between the ends aforesaid and through the keeper to embrace the two sides of the neck, said free ends of the bridle carrying engaging means for the handle and the keeper, being slidable away from the tool to cause said engagement means to function, and a spring key located between the tool and the keeper to hold the keeper in locked position, said key having a notch to automatically interlock with said keeper.

WILLIAM YANERT.

Witnesses to signature:

W. P. FLEISOHMAN, Woo'rrn G. MITCHELL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

